Upcoming decade going to be a 'Techade': Sitharaman

Bengaluru: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said that the coming decade will be a 'Techade', and technology is going to drive us.

Delivering the keynote address at YourStory's 13th Edition ' Techsparks' here, she also stressed on frugality and scalability of innovation.

".... technology driven innovators are the ones we need, who are going to look at local solutions which are affordable and have scaling up probabilities," Sitharaman said.

She said that unless solutions are cost-effective and scalable, that typical thing about India innovation is not going to be there, and without these features, things cannot be achieved as aspired.

Noting that the coming decade is going to be a "techade", and technology is what is going to drive us, the Minister said, "in technology is not just going to be looking at some fundamental things you are going to change, but to do some things using several of those, which are yet not available for many of the parts of the world."

Digital skeletal networks which are available in India are not available elsewhere, Sitharaman said. In India, digital fundamental infrastructure is created with the government, for it to be used for public good.

This kind of government coming out and creating a digital public good, with a futuristic approach is not available in many of the countries, she said, adding "when we talk about techade, we are not talking off the cuff."

Recalling that there was a time when people spoke of global standards, Sitharaman said India today sets standards and the global benchmarks have been seen being achieved in India during and immediately after the pandemic.

"Scaling up doesn't frighten us, we know how to prudently use cost, and give solutions to our problems. We don't wait for patents to come from outside. Vaccines (that we developed) is a classic case for this."

Observing that startups are setting forth the agenda for India, not just for innovation but for knowledge-based India which can service the entire world, Sitharaman said, startups are now setting the base, the language, the terminology, and also the future course.

"So I literally would want to say, I envy you..." she told the gathering of startups/entrepreneurs, as she also called for more women in the startup ecosystem.